Packing perishable articles



Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES NICHOLAS CONOMOS, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

PACKING PERISHABLE ARTICLES.

No Drawing. Application filed September To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS CONOMOS, a subject of the King of Greece,and resi' dent of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in PackingPerishable Articles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the art of packing perishable articles such asconfectionery, tobacco products, dairy products and the like, and itsobject is to provide an improved method of packing such articles whichshall be inexpensive and shall effectively exclude air and moisture fromthe packa e.

Artlcles which will deteriorate when exposed to the air are commonlywrapped in waxed paper, tin foil, or in both paper and foil. Suchpackages, even when carefully sealed, have openings at the folds ofthewrappers through which air can penetrate.

According to my present invention I use gelatine as an agent forexcluding air and moisture from perishable articles, and I apply theglatine in such a way that every part of the surface of the article iscovered with a continuous layer of gelatine and in such a way that thegelatine coating may be readily and practically completely removed whenthe article is to be used.

e I prefer to apply gelatine coatings to perishable articles byspreading a solution of gelatine while hot upon paper, tin'foil or othersheet wrapping material, and then wrapping the coated sheet around thearticle to'be packed, taking care that the still liquid gelatine isbrought into contact with every part of the surface of the article.

I may apply the gelatine coated paper or foil directly to the chocolate,tobacco or other article, so as to bring the gelatine into directcontact with the article or, when it is not desired that the gelatine.shall come into actual contact with the article I first wrap the articlein ordinary untreated paper, foil or other sheet material, andthen wrapthis package in a elatine-coated sheet in the manner describe above.

In carrying out my process, ordinary gelatine is boiled in water toproduce a' thick solution, the consistency of which will vary more orless, according to the nature of the 2, 1922. Serial No. 586,018;

articles to be packed, and the length of time for which such articlesare to be preserved. This solution is spread with a brush, or otherwise,upon the wrapping sheets just before the articles are to be wrapped, inorder that the gelatine may be still wet and warm when the wrapper isapplied to the articles.

Many different articles maybe wrapped in the manner described above,among which may be mentioned chocolate, candy, and other confections,either in bars or enclosed in cartons nut pastes, nut butter, dairybutter, cheese, cigars and chewing tobacco. It will be understood thatmy invention is not restricted to the particular articlesherein-mentioned, but may be used wherever is desired.

I prefer to employ gelatine alone as the coating material because it isedible and will not be harmful to the consumer if particles thereofadhere to the wra ped article when the wrapper is removed. I-Iowever,the gelatine may, if desired, be mixed with mnall quantities. ofguni-arabic or other gums or protection from air and moisture fillers.For the best results the coating ma-- terial should consist at leastgelatine.

As a variation. of myprocess, the gelatine may be applied directly tothe articles by means of a brush or by dipping the articles in agelati-ne solution and then wrapping in paper or other'sheet materialwhile the gelatine is still wet. I prefer, however, to employ theprocess in which the wrapping sheets are first coated with the gelatineand then wrapped around the articles.

When articles treated in this manner are unwrapped the gelatine comesoff with the paper or foil and imparts neither taste nor odor to theproduct.

I claim as my invention:

The process of packing articles that deteriorate when exposed to theair, which comprises coating a wrapping sheet with a gelatine-containingsolutlon and wrapping mainly of an article in said sheet with thegelatine on the side of said sheet toward the article and while thecoating is still wet.

In testimony whereof I,'the said Nronoms CoNoMos, have hereunto set myhand;

NICHOLAS CQNOMOS.

